<p>I was looking through some old NMS threads and came upon the one, by keilexandra, which lists schools that offer NM scholarships. This is fraught with interest for us because my son is accepted ED to a college on the list, St. Olaf, and is a semi-finalist. St. Olaf is listed under NMF Honorable Mention as guaranteed 7.5K. But we can’t find what NMF Honorable Mention entails! We assumed that we would have to wait until Feb or Mar to find out if he has an award. Can anyone clue us in? Thanks!</p>
<p>If your son is has found out that he is a semi-finalist, that is the highest recognition given out so far. Do you mean National Merit Commended, rather than Honorable Mention? If so, Commended falls below semi-finalist. If he is a semi-finalist, he should have been given additional paperwork to fill out on his way to becoming a finalist.
Edit: I just looked at the St. Olafs web site and he would be eligible to apply for that $7,500 scholarship as a finalist.<a href=“http://www.stolaf.edu/admissions/financialaid/meritscholdescriptions.htm[/url]”>http://www.stolaf.edu/admissions/financialaid/meritscholdescriptions.htm</a></p>
<p>The Honorable Mention applies to the schools. They are schools that offer some money for National Merit Semi-Finalists/Finalists, but not full tuition.</p>
<p>*National Merit Scholarship Program ($7,500)
Eligibility: National Merit Finalists who have designated St. Olaf College as their first-choice college with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation are eligible for the St. Olaf National Merit Scholarship Award valued at $7,500 per year. National Achievement Scholars and National Hispanic Scholars are also eligible for awards valued at $7,500 per year. </p>
<p>National Merit Finalists, National Achievement Scholars and National Hispanic Scholars are also eligible to compete for other merit scholarships.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Where does the website mention “Honorable Mention”? Am I overlooking that?</p>
<p>Also, it says that if your child become a NMF, he can compete for other scholarships. I would ask about that. Your son won’t know if he’s a finalist for about a month of so, so if there are scholarships that he can compete for after that, you need to find out.</p>
<p>Hi. Thanks for the replies. Son is a semi-finalist who sent in the finalist app and is now waiting to hear if he will make finalist status. My confusion happened when I read a thread on this site that made it sound like St. Olaf guarantees the $7,500 to those who are “NMF Honorable Mention.” I can’t find anything about “Honorable Mention” in any official site and wonder what that meant. Here is the link to it:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html</a></p>
<p>The list of colleges was compiled from posts on CC, but I could not locate where the info on St. Olaf originated.</p>
<p>edit: I just looked at the list again, and now I think NMF Honorable Mention, for the purpose of this list, just means that the finalist gets a certain amount guaranteed, but not a full ride. This looks good for a finalist going to St Olaf… Am I interpreting this right?</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Ahhhh…</p>
<p>Keil made a list of all the schools that give scholarships of full tuition or more.</p>
<p>Keil named some schools as being “honorable mentions” because although they didn’t give full tuition, they give more than just a small token.</p>
<p>Me again. Sorry to be dense! </p>
<p>From the St Olaf site quoted above: National Merit Scholarship Program ($7,500)
Eligibility: National Merit Finalists who have designated St. Olaf College as their first-choice college with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation are eligible for the St. Olaf National Merit Scholarship Award valued at $7,500 per year. National Achievement Scholars and National Hispanic Scholars are also eligible for awards valued at $7,500 per year.</p>
<p>When they say “eligible for” does that mean they are eligible to compete, or are they, as the list says, guaranteed?</p>
<p>Son has already been notified that he will receive a merit scholarship from St Olaf. Now we’re wondering if the Nat Merit $7,500, on top of it, is a sure thing. (I sound so money hungry! We are just curious!)</p>
<p>Happy New Year from the Midwest!</p>
<p>Happy New Year from the South!</p>
<p>To me, it sounds like NMF’s are eligible for the $7k IF they choose St. Olaf as their NM school.</p>
<p>You don’t sound greedy! It’s normal to ask these questions. My son took the NMF tuition and housing scholarship from University of Alabama, so I wanted to know the details, too. :)</p>
<p>What was his earlier scholarship offer? If it’s a different one, it sounds like the $7k is stacked on top. :)</p>
<p>Scholars are also eligible to compete for other merit scholarships.</p>
<p>The St. Olaf website says that NM students can also compete for other scholarships. Has you son looked into any of the competitive scholarships that are offered?</p>
<p>He has been awarded the Presidential scholarship for 10K/yr. I like this word “stacked”! With the 7.5K on top of the 10, he is in a much better position than we thought–if indeed he really does get the 7.5K.</p>
<p>But I wonder if they would reduce his grant, since his present financial aid picture does not include the 7.5?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help, mom2!!</p>
<p>*But I wonder if they would reduce his grant, since his present financial aid picture does not include the 7.5?
*</p>
<p>That depends on his financial situation. If the Cost of Attendance for St. Olaf is - say - $45k per year, and your EFC is $20k, then he has need of $25k.</p>
<p>If his aid package is:
$10k per year Presidential</p>
<h2>$7.5k per year NM</h2>
<p>$17.5 per year in scholarships</p>
<p>Then his grant can still be $25k minus $17.5k = $7.5K (Do you know if St. Olaf meets 100% of need without loans? If it doesn’t, it may just leave that remaining $7.5 as a gap or as a loan.)</p>
<p>If you’re looking to reduce the amount of your EFC, then he needs to apply to NM schools that give so much money that the $$$ exceeds need.</p>
<p>Is your son applying to any other NM schools? Can I ask what is your EFC? Is that an issue?</p>
<p>wanted to add…</p>
<p>I found this on St. Olaf’s website…</p>
<p>There are several forms of aid available to help make college affordable for families — gift aid (need-based grants and merit scholarships), student employment and student loans.</p>
<p>So, St. Olaf doesn’t meet 100% of need without loans. Therefore, it’s hard to know what they will do in regards to any need minus the good scholarships. They may just give loans at that point. </p>
<p>Remember that the word “award” is misleading in regards to financial aid. Schools call student loans and work/study “awards” (which is misleading to those who think awards are free money.)</p>
<p>Hi mom2! Sending you a PM.</p>